Books: Travelers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism: 1919-1945 By Julia Boyd

"Without the benefit of hindsight, how do you interpret what’s right in front of your eyes?

The events that took place in Germany between 1919 and 1945 were dramatic and terrible but there were also moments of confusion, of doubt – of hope. How easy was it to know what was actually going on, to grasp the essence of National Socialism, to remain untouched by the propaganda or predict the Holocaust? Travelers in the Third Reich is a history of the rise of the Nazis based on fascinating first-hand accounts, drawing together a multitude of voices and stories, including students, politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, journalists, fascists, artists, tourists, even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett. Their experiences create a remarkable three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler – one so palpable that the reader will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere."

You can’t go wrong with this thoroughly compelling book which details the rise of Hitler and fascism seen by travelers and other “real” people of the era. The book excels at telling stories, with author Julia Boyd’s skills shinning through. Most of the travelers Boyd describes generally fall into three categories: those who “had made up their minds as to which camp they belonged”, those who were naively or willfully ignorant “because Germany’s cultural heritage was simply too precious to renounce for politics, however unpleasant those politics might be”, and those who were just plain confused and baffled by what they experienced and observed. She also didn't shy away from being judgmental when it was appropriate as in her comment, “The historian Sir Arthur Bryant was another notable foreigner whose benign view of the Nazis lasted longer than was decent.”

While the Treaty of Versailles in 1918 brought an end to German dominance, it was also was the lightening rod that swept Hitler into power. But it’s the brilliant propaganda that allowed Germany to still be a glorious, unspoiled place to visit, all while in the shadows (at first) building a new war machine that was still doomed to failure.It still remains striking after 80 years how it all happened, how it all was ignored for so long. “Perhaps the chilling fact, “ Boyd writes, “to emerge from these travelers’ tales is that so many perfectly decent people could return home from Hitler’s Germany singing its praises.” And she points out that even in the late 1930’s it was still possible for forengers (including Americans) “to spend weeks in Germany and experience nothing more unpleasant than a puncture.” But she adds –and this seems prescience today- there “was a difference between ‘not seeing’ and ‘not knowing.’ And after Kristallnacht (a pogrom against Jews carried out by SA paramilitary forces and civilians throughout Nazi Germany) on November 9, 1938, there could be no possible excuse for any foreign traveler to claim that they ‘did not know’ the Nazi’s true colors.”

It’s a disturbing book, coming off almost absurd in some people’s naivety. But the book also gives some insight into the complexities of the Third Reich, its paradoxes and its ultimate destruction.